Orange Crush
by DryBread
Summary: A short story about Izaya and Shizuo. An incident with a vending machine and orange soda one day made Shizuo realize how much Izaya really means to him.


Izaya Orihara scanned the selection of colorful drinks in the bright red vending machine - looking for something to quench his thirst. "Ah, it's so hot out!" he griped out loud, while taking off his trademark jacket with fur adorned on the sleeves and waist. "What was I thinking wearing this today?" he said to himself, as he took out some change from the coat's pocket to put into the vending machine. "I guess some orange soda will do the trick," he said happily as he put in his coins one by one.

Shizuo Heiwajima inhaled his cigarette deeply into his lungs as it dangled from his lips. He walked the crowded streets of Ikebukuro towards his job as a bartender with his hands stuffed in his pockets, while trying to avoid the hustle and bustle of weekend shoppers. "Damn crowds - I hate them," he muttered to himself. Shizuo was in a bad mood - it was hot and sticky, and he had to walk to work on a busy weekend - everything was pissing him off today.

Izaya finally put in his last coin and was about to punch in the number and letter of the drink he wanted, until he spotted a tall, blonde, man in a bartending suit from the corner of his eyes. He spun around quickly and spotted Shizuo wearing his usual tinted-blue sunglasses, walking hunched over with a cigarette in his mouth. _Yep, that's Shizuo alright_, Izaya thought humorously to himself. "Hey, Shizuo!" Izaya shouted loudly as he cupped his hands around his mouth.

Shizuo immediately diverted his attention towards the sound of the voice calling his name and saw Izaya with a big, dumb, grin on his face - he was waving his arms over the crowd of people trying to gain Shizuo's attention.

"Care to join me for a drink?" Izaya shouted. "Oh, but I see you're on your way to work, so too bad - I guess you can't!" Izaya mocked loudly until everyone in the crowd could hear what he was saying.

Shizuo saw the hoard of people staring at him and giggling at Izaya's joke and felt his blood boil. The cigarette he held loosely between his fingers snapped as he broke it from anger. Izaya's teasing was the last straw - Shizuo seemed to lose all control as he dashed through the crowd and towards Izaya. Shizuo lifted the vending machine with the use of the incredible adrenaline rush coursing throughout his body and slammed it down where Izaya was standing.

Izaya narrowly missed the vending machine as he jumped out of Shizuo's range and stumbled onto the ground. Shizuo was heaving heavily as he stood some distance away from Izaya with his fists tightly clenched. "Hey, Shizuo, I was just kidding!" Izaya said as he sat on the ground with is hands raised out in front of him.

Shizuo gave Izaya an angry glare and walked away into the staring crowd - he was already late for his job and the last thing he wanted to happen today was to get fired. Shizuo slowly disappeared amongst the crowd of people as Izaya and everybody else watched him stomp away.

"I never got to get my drink," Izaya said glumly, as he stared at the smashed vending machine and hung his head in disappointment.

It was late at night and Shizuo was walking back home after a tiring and annoying day at work. His encounter with Izaya was still replaying in his mind and it made him aggravated just thinking about the little twerp. _Why is he always getting under my skin? _Shizuo thought to himself as he walked and smoked. _He's the only one who dares to tempt my anger - he's such an idiot._ Shizuo spotted a bench and decided to sit down for a while and enjoy the night's quiet streets. Izaya had always been his rival since the day they first met and it made Shizuo wonder why Izaya even paid him any attention at all - everyone else was afraid of him and called him a monster, but not Izaya - he would enjoy seeing Shizuo show his true potential, and in a way it made Shizuo feel somewhat proud of his unusual talent. Shizuo smoked his cigarette down to the filter and threw it on the ground and whispered, "Izaya…"

Izaya had fallen asleep on his couch until he was awaken by a series of knocks on his door. He groggily got up off the sofa and made his way over to the front door. "Alright, I'm coming," he said to the person knocking outside. Izaya opened the door slightly and saw nobody there. He then opened the door all the way and looked around, but the streets were empty. Just when he was about to shut the door, he spotted a lone can of orange soda on the ground. He blinked a few times as he stared down at the soft drink and smiled as soon as he realized who had left it there. He picked up the cold drink and closed the door behind him. He popped the can open and took a long gulp of the orange substance. "Ah! That hit the spot!" he said out loud. He leaned against the front door and held the can to his chest. "Thank you, Shizu-chan," he whispered and smiled.


End file.
